Webplan Changes Name to Kinaxis

Ottawa, Canada — May 17, 2005 — Webplan announced that it has changed its name to Kinaxis in addition to embarking on a new market initiative for manufacturing.

Featuring new RapidResponse Deployment Services, Kinaxis said its RapidResponse solution for manufacturing performance management can be fully functional in five weeks, and completely rolled out in 12 weeks.

Kinaxis touted its previous year of growth, which was driven in large part by the acceptance of RapidResponse, according to the provider. The company said it has seen an 83 percent increase in new customers and a 221 percent increase in software licensing revenues over the past year.

"Manufacturers turn to RapidResponse for the, 'You can't plan your way out of this'-type problems," said Doug Colbeth, CEO for Kinaxis. He added that Kinaxis expanding to serve the needs of the worldwide manufacturing markets.

In the days of Henry Ford, well-planned long production runs defined manufacturing success. Today, Colbeth said, success is increasingly defined by how fast organizations respond to the volatility of customer demands and global supply conditions. "An executive from an electronics customer once told me, 'We don't know exactly what we will do until the start of each day;' so success is contingent upon the effectiveness of Response Management," he concluded.

Dave Haskins, executive vice president of development for Kinaxis, explained, "There is a point-of-action just before manufacturing execution where real-world volatilities must be accommodated. Effective response at this crucial point drives much of corporate performance. This is not a time for reports, nor is it a time to re-plan. It is time for quick, collaborative decisions that rapidly drive action."

Haskins said that RapidResponse focuses on the rapid, collaborative decisions that are aligned to corporate performance objectives and that are then driven to effective action. Some of the solution's capabilities include active spreadsheets, a resolution engine and a live scorecard.

Kinaxis said RapidResponse Deployment Services are available immediately for all RapidResponse customers.

The name change is anticipated to become effective globally by the end of May 2005.